Job Discussion Forums

Travelingman · Joined: 18 Nov 2003 Posts: 33

Fellow Posters,

I have signed a contract but haven't started working yet and an offer much much much better just came in? What happens if I accept it? What happens to money given in advance for rent and moving expenses made by the first offer? Would I be liable for this amount and even other damages?

I would appreciate guidance in this matter. Thanks all.

kev7161 · Joined: 06 Feb 2004 Posts: 5880 Location: Suzhou, China

My advice is threefold:

a. Honor your contract. Keep the email/phone number of the subsequent job offer and contact them at the end of your current contract to see if they are interested for next term.

b. Talk to your current "bosses". Find out how they'd feel if you dropped out. Maybe they would think it's no big deal and wish you luck. If they don't like the idea, assure them you will honor the original contract and there are no worries.

c. Whatever you do, giving back the money they've already given you would be the most honorable and honest thing to do. They gave you that money in anticipation of you working for them.

In my opinion, it's much too close to the beginning of a term to stick your current school with the problem of having to try and find a new teacher. If you can recommend someone (or a list of someones) who they could hire to replace you, that may be yet another option.

nolefan · Joined: 14 Jan 2004 Posts: 1458 Location: on the run

I agree with Kev on this one! you signed a contract, you should stick with it or pay the relevant penalties.

Keep in mind that just because the offer is better does not mean that the job is better.

Travelingman · Joined: 18 Nov 2003 Posts: 33

I didn't want to mention this at first as I didn't want to seem like I was bragging but the second job's salary is three times that of the first. I have a speciality background difficult to find in China.

Also, I have never seen this $$$ offered anywhere before here. There is not that much supply but there is not that much demand for someone in my field either. I don't if or when another offer like this will come again.

Finally I have been in China long enough to have gotten my good share of 'less-than-fair-treatment', although not at the nightmare level of some previous posters.

I believe in honoring my word but this a little bit of resentment gnawing at me that why should I have to be Mr. Nice-Guy when they (China at large) is not always abiding by the rules.

Does any of these change your prospective? Thanks.

tw · Joined: 04 Jun 2005 Posts: 3898

I suggest you check out the thread www.eslcafe.com/forums/job/viewtopic.php?t=26916

I agree with what the other two posters said: honor your contract. Unless you can pull a rabbit out of a hat and find your employer a replacement FT who is equally qualified and experienced, and you are willing to give back every single fen the employer gave you for moving and for rent, stick it out. Ask them to make it a one-term contract.

It's our human nature to always look for greener pastures, and we always like to compare our salary with another FT's, or with what another employer offers.

cj750 · Joined: 27 Apr 2004 Posts: 3081 Location: Beijing

Check the contract to see (you should already know this) if there is a clause to extract yourself from the agreement..many contract will provide a clause to give notice which usually includes a payout of money already received for incidentals...I hve been known to incl. a three daynotice clause...
If the new offer is three times..then I would say that you owe it to yourself to provide the best possible living condition that you can muster...and if you have a family then ..it is all the more reason to "switch horses in the middle of the stream"..but a contract is a contract..even if that means little in China..and so this must be worked out in a contractual effort between you and the furture/receint past employer...real problems can develope if you have paperwork issued to the first job and have not cleared the way to receive a release letter..and the last is ...make sure this new offer is real...3 Xs sound too good....

Roger · Joined: 19 Jan 2003 Posts: 9138

clark.w.griswald · Joined: 06 Dec 2004 Posts: 2056

Mideatoo · Posted: Thu Aug 18, 2005 5:11 am Post subject:

Travelingman stands for "traveling man" Roger.

Zero Hero · Joined: 20 Mar 2005 Posts: 944

Zero Hero · Joined: 20 Mar 2005 Posts: 944

[Deleted]

cujobytes · Posted: Thu Aug 18, 2005 5:35 am Post subject:

Hate to say it, but apart from the little exercise in corrections I'm with ZH on this one.
You only live once, do what's best for you. You'll be bitter and resentful the entire term of the contract if you don't.

Chris_Crossley

It can sometimes happen that you wait for ages for an offer to come along, then, when it does come, you take it in the belief that nothing else will come along. Then - BANG! Another offer comes along after you have signed the contract that effectively commits you to your new employer for however long the contract period is before you have even worked a single day for them. Sad

Someone used to tell me, "NEVER accept the first thing that comes along - unless you're desperate!" Confused

Even so, the better offer with regard to pay may not necessarily be the better job as regards working hours and job satisfaction. You may end up working your bottom off, but I have been in situations where I have done just that for relatively low-ish pay.

I would say that, generally speaking, hold off accepting any kind of job offer for as long as possible. If the prospective employer gives you no deadline for a reply, be it a yay or a nay, ask for one. The chances are that "no" deadline implies a deadline of 24 hours or even less; it is the way things are in China - they expect you to accept or reject an offer within seconds of it being made, that's their mentality.

If the employer gives you, say, a week to reply, hold off doing so until either: (a) you do unexpectedly get that good job offer, or (b) you have to give a reply to the first offer, in which case it is up to you to decide whether to accept it or reject it.

It is all too easy to accept something when you are told that term starts next week (or even tomorrow!), but, if the start of your job does not start any time soon, I would suggest that you wait. They do say that patience is a virtue.

It is all too easy to close the proverbial barn door after the horse has bolted, yet I would echo the others' opinions by saying that you have to honour your contract. It would look bad if you said that you have now been made another, much better offer and would like to take that one instead. Note the employer, who has made this seemingly fantastic offer, for future reference. The chances are that, whoever takes it, the contract will last just one year and then that person may decide to move on, in which case you could offer your services in his or her place.

Besides which, I do not believe that a year of experience at one place will hurt you before you move on to the next. The company or school will still be there in a year's time (bankruptcy or other spanner-in-the-works event notwithstanding). I imagine that you are still young, so you have plenty of time to gain experience, I can assure you.

Roger · Joined: 19 Jan 2003 Posts: 9138

Mideatoo · Posted: Thu Aug 18, 2005 11:07 am Post subject:

I beg for your forgiveness your highness. Please old you men in arms
Your wishes are my desires, and as the sun is to the east I will wash my perfidy into my youngest pucelle's blood.